Intersect Power has begun commercial operation at its 500MW Oberon solar and storage project in Riverside County, California.
The US site aligns with the priorities of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by using American-made equipment and paying prevailing wages.
The project was built with First Solar modules from Ohio, NX Horizon smart solar trackers from Nextracker, and American-made structural steel.
More than 930 skilled union jobs were created at peak construction with California’s LiUNA Local 1184, IBEW Local 440 and others, prioritizing local area hire.
The co-located 1 GWh of storage was built with batteries from Tesla’s battery facility in Lathrop, California.
Intersect Power chief executive Sheldon Kimber said: “This project demonstrates that Intersect continues to pioneer procurement standards for our industry that live up to the vision of the IRA and deliver transformative clean energy projects that move the needle on the deep decarbonization of our economy.”
The Oberon project is the first to achieve operation through the streamlined approach under the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
The landmark plan was the result of six years of collaboration between the federal government, conservation groups, Native American tribes, the renewable energy industry, utilities, and members of the public.
It designated over 10 million acres of conservation and recreation lands in the southern California desert while centring renewable energy development in designated Development Focus Areas.
Energy, Renewable Energy Credits and Resource Adequacy generated by the Oberon project will be purchased by a combination of offtakers including Calpine Energy Solutions, Constellation, Ava Community Energy (formerly East Bay Community Energy), Microsoft and San Diego Community Power.
Intersect secured funding for the project’s construction as part of the broader portfolio financing announced last September, when the company closed on portfolio level term debt, tax equity, and construction financing commitments from leading financial institutions and investors.
The portfolio term debt was provided by certain funds and accounts managed by HPS Investment Partners and other co-investors.
The tax equity was provided by Morgan Stanley Renewables Bancorp Impact Finance.